drawbacks of a 26

[waznad]

hey guy and gals, need some opinions on a 26 inch bass drum. i'm in the process of ordering shells to "build my own" kit. i love the fat sound of a 26 but have heard that they are "sloppy" feelin. na has 26 and can't feel any difference over a 22. so anybody has experience with this, i'd like to hear from you. if it helps, i'm goin with acrylic shells with the kick being 16 x 26. i play mostly hard rock, classic rock.

[totti]

26" kick drums ?

Wow...never seen before honeslty...
Can you post the pic as soon as the bass drums comin ??
I'm eager to know....

[XAydMary]

Which manufacturer for acrylic? RCI? I have an RCI 24x16 that I love. I can't tell any difference between a 24 or 22. I settled for a 24 because it's easier to find heads.

[waznad]

thanks guys for the info.
totti - yeah i'll get some pics of the shells when they come in. it'll be awhile b4 the kit is done cause my time is limited right now.

xaydmary - yeah, RCI is the maker of the shells. they seem to be the most popular. i found the remo powerstroke 3 in a 26 so i'm good to go. I'm glad to hear that you feel no difference between the 22 and the 24. i'm worried that if it is sloppy it would slow my foot down, and it's slow enough.
thanks again.

[Stevo42w]

i like smaller bassdrums.... and really. when you want to hear kick out of a subwoofer. a 18 inch sub isnt good a 8 inch is better...... the smaller you have the better responce. Lager would be slower in action and sound sloppier. And really if you can get a cannon out of an 18" Bassdrum. why would you get a 26?

[totti]

I Think the 26" have a lower and deeper sound....

[Kjbakke2]

i love the sound out of a 26
you can get a punch out of it at just about any head tension
and the low end is AMAZING when miced
the reason to get a 26 over an 18
one:
it sounds like a huge low end pound that just hits you right in the chest
two: it looks frickin bad@$$
three: every engineer ive talked to loves how easy it is to get a throaty sound out of them at nearly any micing position

one side note
just dont go any larger
its one of those things where it gets better and better
and then the next size up gives a steep drop off in pleasant sound

[waznad]

thanks guys, your right kjbakke2 the sound is amazing. i havn't heard alot of 18 bass drums so i really cant compare, but i have heard alot of 26 's and they all feel like your getting kicked in the chest. How does it play ? does it feel sloppy ? i'm gunna try and order the shells this week. thanks again.

[Stevo42w]

i guess thats cool. but then again that means its all sub bass and isnt technically auditable sound. Sounds ok for studio use i guess.... thing i would hate the most is the high toms that be mounted of it. or around it or whatever :P

[backtodrum]

26" bass drums sound huge boomy and as has been said before can be a handful to control, especially if they are deeper than 16 inches. But I think for pure aesthetics there is nothing that looks cooler on stage than a big ol 26incher. I would say though that I think the reality of the issue is they are pure overkill, and really unnecessary!

[waznad]

everybody has a certain sound that they like, thats why there are so many different sizes and kinds of drums. its all a matter of personal taste. i just want to know if anybody here has or has played a 26 inch bass drum and how it felt. was it sloppy compaired to lets say a 22 ? neal peart has a 23 inch kick (yeah a 23 not 22 or 24). in a rag there is an add for dw, he said he loves the sound of a 24 but not the how sloppy it was. dw made a 23 for him and remo makes 23 inch heads for him. those of you that have played a 24 or 26 kick are the ones i would like to hear from. do you agree with neal or could you tell no difference ? don't get me wrong, i want to hear the other stuff like backtodrum has said. i'm trying to get all the info i can before i order cause the shell itself is gunna run about $400. the total for the whole kit's gunna run bout $2000.00.
thanks again

[coke_can]

well wouldnt you have to extend your foot pedal beater to hit the middle? if so that could throw the balance of it off making it feel sloppy

[waznad]

coke can, i was wondering bout that myself. mike portnoy has a 26 in his monster and it looks like his beater hits the bottom of the middle. but that is somethin i would really like to find out. thanks

[backtodrum]

I had a 24" in the 70s it was a killer drum and sounded huge and all. The beater did not hit the center of the drum and will not on a 26 either. but I don't know of any drummers who have increased the length of the beater rod. For one it is not strong enough for the diameter of the rod and it would bend at the extended length as well as make the pedal feel bad and out of balance. I say if you want a 26" go play a demo and see what you think. I will say that a 26" bass drum has way more boom than attack. They way around that if you are micing it, is close mic the beater head as opposed to just putting the mic in a port or in front of the resonant head. You can do it from inside the drum or mic the outside of the beater head with a mic by you foot pedal.

[PHROGGE]

SMALLER DRUM IS EASIER to control in studio but live aint nuffin like that BIG BAM BOOM,,,,GOOD LUCK WHATEVER YER CHOICE

[waznad]

i found a store close by that has a 26 inch ludwig that im gunna try this weekend and a friend that has a 24 inch that im gunna try also. after talkin to him, im leanin toward th 24 cause he said its still has the big fat sound of a 26 but the response of a 22. best of both, we'll see. i'll post after i play. thanks to all.

[Stevo42w]

Goodlucky with building the kit. Make sure you post pics.... even mid construction would be cool

[waznad]

i'll try my best. i'll order the shells next week, but findin the time to put them together will be the hardest thing for me. thanks again

[DeathMetalDrummer]

I have a 22" kick it's okay, 26"s are suppsosed to be really deep, but they require alot of tuning.

[drummerdavie]

i own 22"s and have acsess to an 26". and i understand what they mean by slopy. we found that to get a soid rebound from the 26 we had to crank its tuneing up pretty high while the 22 didnt need as much tightness. at lower tuneings it feels like the pedal is sinking into the head. but at the tighter it cant be beat. pain to transport though.

[Kjbakke2]

i found a store close by that has a 26 inch ludwig that im gunna try this weekend and a friend that has a 24 inch that im gunna try also. after talkin to him, im leanin toward th 24 cause he said its still has the big fat sound of a 26 but the response of a 22. best of both, we'll see. i'll post after i play. thanks to all.

good choice sir
one of the best kicks i have ever played was a 24 inch dw with an emad
sounded amazing
good luck =]

[Church Drummer]

Have you considered rather than a bigger head, going with a standard 22 or 24, but getting a deeper shell for more boom.

[dbunk]

once on stage it's all up to the soundman how your bass drum is going to sound. not the size of the drum

dbunk

[Deep Blue]

once on stage it's all up to the soundman how your bass drum is going to sound. not the size of the drum

dbunk

Depends on how much can manipulate pitch. Physically, all other things being equal, a larger diameter drum produces a lower pitch than a smaller diameter drum. Also with acoustic drums, depending on the venue, not all of the sound will be heard through the system.